from  Classic Rock (cover:  Jimi Hendrix)

   November 2003 - Page 75

This issue focuses on 'acid rock' in a lengthy story called "Trippin' The Light Fantastic" by Hugh Fielder.

There is a photo of Jim, with the caption:  "The Doors:  Jim Morrison's daily routine was to smoke dope all day, drink beer in the evening, level off with shots of speed, and then drop acid shortly before going on stage."

The story segues from a section on Arthur Lee & Love, into:

... Which has been the story of Arthur Lee for the last 30 years, culminating in a jail sentence for gun offences in the early 90s.  But the last couple of years have seen a spirited revival and a couple of well-received British tours, for which we should all be truly thankful.

Despite his abrupt departure and the fact that Love never made a cent for the label, Elektra still have reason to be grateful to Arthur Lee for recommending that they check out another band causing a stir in the Sunset Strip clubs in 1966, called The Doors.

Drop-out student Jim Morrison was living on someone's roof in LA's Venice Beach, dropping acid and writing poetry, when he bumped into Ray Manzarek, who was trying to decide between a career in film or music.  The problem was solved after they worked up 'Moonlight Drive' together with Jim's acid-soaked lyrics.  For their first residency at the London Fog on the Strip, Manzarek remembers that they played "stoned every night.  It was the great summer of acid, and we really got into a lot of improvisation."

By the time they graduated to the Whisky A Go Go, Morrison's daily routine was to smoke dope all day, drink beer in the evening, level off with shots of speed, and then drop acid shortly before going on stage, where he would regularly wave phials of amyl nitrate under the noses of the band and audience.  On this regime The Doors developed the songs that made up the first couple of albums.  Morrison later said that "some of the best musical trips we took were in clubs".

One night Morrison failed to show up at the Whisky.  After the first set the band tracked him down to a nearby motel, where he was incoherently muttering "ten thousand mikes [micrograms]".  The band eventually realised this referred to his acid intake -- which was more than 20 times the normal dosage.

They got him to the club, and the second set was, not surprisingly, a mess.  He was coming down during the third set as they played 'The End', when he suddenly came up with the dramatic lyrical finale:  'Father.'/'Yes, son?'/'I want to kill you.'/'Mother, I want to ... fuck you!'   It got them fired from the club, but it gave their first album an unforgettable climax -- even with the last two words omitted.

For The Doors the rest, as they say, is legendary.  Significantly, they were about the only LA band to conquer San Francisco.

Matching both Jim Morrison and Arthur Lee for stoned genius and charisma was Sky Saxon (né Richard Marsh), who had Apache blood -- and a picture of Jesus on his ID card.  ...

  return to Ida's LA Woman Confidential home page   

 for more Doors news and reviews